(MENAFN- Daily News Egypt) Kamel Al-Wazir, Deputy Prime Minister for Industrial Development and Minister of industry and Transport, chaired the 10th meeting of the Ministerial Group for Industrial Development on Monday. The meeting was attended by several ministers, representatives of ministries that are members of the ministerial group, along with leaders from the Ministries of Industry, Investment, Foreign Trade, Housing, Petroleum, Finance, Central bank of Egypt, as well as owners of iron and steel, ceramics, and tire manufacturing factories.
During the meeting, the measures taken by the Ministry of investment and Foreign Trade regarding trade remedies were reviewed, including anti-dumping, subsidy, and safeguard investigations. These actions are taken after confirming a causal link between the harm suffered by local manufacturers and the dumped product, specifically for ceramics, hot-rolled steel, cold-rolled and galvanized steel, colored steel, and tires.
Al-Wazir emphasized the importance of safeguarding existing Egyptian industries, making it a top government priority alongside attracting new industrial investments. He stressed the need for the Ministry of Trade to verify the harm caused to local industries by dumped products before launching any investigations into trade remedies, ensuring Egypt's success in such investigations and the imposition of tariffs on imports.
The mechanisms and measures to address the issue of ceramic and porcelain manufacturers' difficulties in settling their debts were also reviewed. Among the key solutions is the launch of an initiative in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance to establish a compensation system that allows for the supply of ceramics and porcelain to the Ministry of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities, the Ministry of Transport, and the Engineering Authority of the Armed Forces in exchange for the outstanding debts owed by the ceramic factories.
Additionally, the pace of the 15% initiative was accelerated. The minister confirmed that President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi had approved providing loans to manufacturers at a 15% interest rate to purchase equipment and production supplies. Coordination has also taken place between Industrial Development Authority (IDA) and the Federation of Egyptian Industries to prioritize sectors for receiving these loans, Al-Wazir said.
In this regard, representatives from the Ministry of Finance explained that the ministry is in the process of developing a new system to implement the compensation process through a specialized technical team that will review the entitlements and consider the investors' requirements to apply the system effectively.
During the meeting, the outcomes of the technical committee, consisting of representatives from the Ministries of Public Business Sector and Military Production, the Industrial Control Authority, the IDA, and the El Nasr Steel Pipes and Fittings Company, were discussed. The committee had assessed the technical condition and production lines of the two factories belonging to Nasr Casting Company.
The goal was to identify ways to attract new investments to help resume production and fully utilize the company's manufacturing facilities. The efficiency of the machines and equipment at these factories is currently between 60% and 70%.
The meeting also reviewed the facilities and incentives offered by the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources to support the industrial sector. The ministerial group decided that the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources would issue these incentives in the form of a circular, which the Federation of Egyptian Industries would distribute to factories.
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